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Do any of you suffering from Arthritis out there have a particular food or remedy that you find really helps?
After suffering from lots of pain in my hands this year I visited my doc and yep after some tests it was confirmed as Arthritis. I eat plenty of oily fish and take a joint formula recommended by my doc but was wondering what others do?
Whenever a condition ends with "itis" it means an inflammation of that part.
Yogurt is an anti-inflammatory food and good for the "itis".
That's all I have in my bag right now.
I'm afraid this is not first hand, but my elderly kitty was definitely helped by glucosamine and chrondroitin. It made a big enough difference in the ease with which he walked and jumped that it made me a believer and if I start suffering with arthritis I'll give it a try.
Keep moving!
And one of our many great discussions here, good thread to read I think:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=27979
Ow, Les. I don't have any advice, I'm just sending you a hug. {TH}
Can you swim? I would think the warm water, fluidity of motion could help. :o
nutritiondata.com lists "inflammation factor" of foods.
Generally, more alkalizing foods and fewer acid-forming ones is better for me.
I don't know how to explain which is which, but in very broad strokes, animal products and grains (true grains, not necessarily all seeds) tend to be acid-forming, and fruits and vegetables tend to be alkalizing. You can usually tell soon after you eat something, if you're in good tune with your body.
I really love your advice sometimes, Zen :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Zen
Thanks everyone for the tips.
Malkin - I will check out the site, thanks.:)
I'm taking cherry fruit extract to keep my gout (a type of arthritis) at bay and so far so good. :)
I avoid tomatoes, green peppers, white veggies, white flour, white sugar, and eat alot more dark leafy green veggies and plenty of wild caught salmon. I've heard that cantaloupe is an excellent anti-inflammatory type food.
Oh, and this time of year I am soaking in the tub more to help the arthritic pain.
yes- for inflammatory arthritis, a lot of people say to avoid all the nightshades.
That includes potatoes and eggplants as well as tomatoes and peppers (all peppers, not just green bell peppers).
Oh noooooo, but I like all those things. Can't I just cook them in yogurt? :confused: :(Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
Well, this will also depend on the type of arthritis..Quote:
Originally Posted by Trekhawk
If it's osteoarthritis, it may respond differently to foods than one of the inflammatory autoimmune types like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis or Ankylosing Spondylitis....
Disclaimer: all this is my personal experience with autoimmune arthritis...
Some people swear certain foods make their arthritis worse. For me, if I drink some types of alcohol, my fingers swell up and I get stiff. Certain red wines are the worst for me.
If I don't eat my fruits and veggies, I start to flare up. It's really been about a balanced diet. Not too much excess in any area.
For me, the nightshade family has no impact on my body (yay--I LOVE tomatoes).
I have a variety of rheumatoid arthritis. A bunch of years ago I had a flare up that was so bad I thought I was going to have to quit working. I was on oral gold and steroids for a time, but nothing was working.
What I did was cut out all processed and canned foods, and red meat. No premade meats like salami or even store cooked chicken. I tried to eat mostly fresh. If I couldn't, I either had frozen or packaged in glass jars (spaghetti sauce, etc.). It took about 6 months to start feeling better, but by 10 months I was back to running and feeling great. I know that sounds like a long time, but I was miserable for over a year before I changed my diet.
I now eat red meat again, but I still stay away from canned stuff as much as possible. I rarely have flare ups. When I do they're easily controlled with ibuprofen.
Good luck to you. I hope this helps.
My mom has a bit of arthritis in one thumb, and a sore shoulder from a horseback riding accident years ago. She has found great relief from taking fish oil every day. I have no idea of any scientific studies, but I thought I'd pass along the information.
I have psoriatic arthritis, which is closely related to rheumatoid arthritis. In addition to my normal stiffness due to the disease, the past 2 years I have been having ankle issues caused by an Achilles Tendon tear. Last week I started a cleanse called "Clean" and have eliminated all red meat, wheat and milk products and processed foods. I have absolutely no pain or stiffness now. My DH thinks I have gone off the deep end when I tell him how good I feel after 1 week on this altered diet, but I feel great!
I think eliminating the wheat and possibly the milk products have lessened the inflammation in my body.
p.s. Someone in my spinning class who also has psoriatic arthritis had stopped all milk products, wheat and alcohol and her symptoms have disappeared. Last year when she told me about her diet, I disregarded it as something I could never do. I am sorry I didn't try this earlier because it is not as hard as I thought.
whoa, someone else with PsA. Not too many of us. I'm glad diet helped you so much!Quote:
Originally Posted by xanesdoc
I wish diet would work for me... I did the elimination diet thing for a month several years ago (no dairy, wheat, yeast, nuts, alcohol, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners--I swear I only ate meat and potatoes). It only made me really hate the diet :p
Omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory (that's why they're good for your arteries) so that makes sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
I bought some beautiful persimmons today, and I was curious about the nutritional values, and I found this website:
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/persimmon-fruit.html
From the site:
"Persimmons contain many health benefiting phyto-nutrients flavonoid poly-phenolic anti-oxidants like catechins and gallocatechins as well as important anti-tumor compound betulinic acid. Catechins are known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and anti-hemorrhagic (prevents bleeding from small blood vessels) properties."
I don't know if this will help arthritis, but they're so good even without an excuse to eat them.
Catechins are also in green tea
Yep it is osteoarthritis. So far I have not noticed any one food making it worse.Quote:
Originally Posted by lo123
I have upped the amount of oily fish I eat and thanks to all the tips here I will investigate some of the other foods mentioned.:)
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug...inflammation17
There is some research that says inflammation is a cause of osteoarthritis. IAE, reducing inflammation is a good goal in itself.
Thanks for the link.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by OakLeaf
LO123 is right on about osteoarthritis vs arthritis caused by an autoimmune condition. What aggravates one may not be a bother for the other.
I have both. I've found (big tears) that chocolate really exacerbates my symptoms. The darker the chocolate, the worse. I love chocolate. Not fair!
I have to take an NSAID called meloxicam. It's Rx only & so far it has worked for several years - longer than most NSAIDs. My rheumatologist is big on stopping the inflammatory condition so that the joints don't get worse. I've tried all of the alternative remedies & nothing worked. I do take fish oil for other things, so maybe I'm getting a benefit there. I still need my meloxicam, though.
Right now I have really bad arthritis & bone spurs in my thumb. I'm doing my best to ignore it, but it doesn't seem to want to go away.:(
Thanks for the tip.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmama
I hope you get some relief from the pain soon.
Oh, that's brutal!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmama